What if I told you that YOU'RE a saint, too?
It's a tough word to grapple with as one to use to describe yourself, especially if you grew up in or around Catholicism. Catholics tend to place such an extreme, high importance on the holiness and righteousness of men and women who have gone before us. They say those folks deserve more honor, more prestige, and more praise than others who haven't done quite as much in their lives. They esteem those brothers and sisters of the faith to nearly no end, even calling on their names in prayer, even asking for their assistance in times of need.
But when you read the Bible and see how often the church is referred to as a body of saints, then get some of the facts about what was happening in and around those churches, you'll get a much different sense of what it truly means to be a Saint in Christ. The perception that it's some ridiculously unattainable benchmark is missing the full view-- we do not and cannot 'achieve' sainthood... it really is not about our feats at all.
It is NOT about what you and I do or do not do that makes us a saint--no, it is about what Yeshua our Savior has done for us, on our behalf, and who HE has called us to be. It is our identification with Christ Jesus our Lord that serves as the qualifying mark of becoming a saint, nothing more, nothing less. It was His blood that redeemed us and covered us; His resurrection that gave us LIFE, eternal life as a new creation in Him.
The word 'saint' should not scare us. It should motivate us! We ought to be living like heirs of a Kingdom would; as a royal priesthood would speak and act. Because that is who we are in God... He calls us saints because He made us saints!
He has given us new hearts. And now we get to love and live like Jesus did.
Amen.
Grace & peace!
~J
But when you read the Bible and see how often the church is referred to as a body of saints, then get some of the facts about what was happening in and around those churches, you'll get a much different sense of what it truly means to be a Saint in Christ. The perception that it's some ridiculously unattainable benchmark is missing the full view-- we do not and cannot 'achieve' sainthood... it really is not about our feats at all.
It is NOT about what you and I do or do not do that makes us a saint--no, it is about what Yeshua our Savior has done for us, on our behalf, and who HE has called us to be. It is our identification with Christ Jesus our Lord that serves as the qualifying mark of becoming a saint, nothing more, nothing less. It was His blood that redeemed us and covered us; His resurrection that gave us LIFE, eternal life as a new creation in Him.
The word 'saint' should not scare us. It should motivate us! We ought to be living like heirs of a Kingdom would; as a royal priesthood would speak and act. Because that is who we are in God... He calls us saints because He made us saints!
He has given us new hearts. And now we get to love and live like Jesus did.
Amen.
Grace & peace!
~J
